You probably wouldn’t recognize Joel Zimmerman in the street but there’s no doubt you would recognize the giant mouse head that’s come to represent Zimmerman’s alter ego Deadmau5.
Born in Ontario, Canada a young Joel, who already showed a knack for electronics, began work in Animation and Web Design before eventually shifting to working on music, first experimenting with Chiptune sounds. He took on the moniker Deadmau5 after he found the body of a frozen rodent in a computer he had built.
He began building up a name through the independent dance site Beatport, eventually going on to release his debut album ‘Get Scraped’ in 2005. This helped to further his popularity until in 2007 he was able to found his own label ‘Mau5trap which, with the support of established dance superpowers ‘Ministry of Sound’ and ‘Ultra Records’ released 2008’s ‘Random Album Title’. Singles like ‘Move for Me’, a collaboration with American producer Kaskade gave Joel his first taste of chart success.
The follow up album, 2009’s ‘For Lack of a Better Name’ birthed some of Joel’s most popular material to date including ‘Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff’. He followed up the album with a tour on which he gave fans the unique opportunity of picking up a recording of the show on a USB flash drive as soon as the gig was over.
Unique touches like this have helped Deadmau5 to become one of the biggest names in dance music today and is a staple at EDM festivals. After signing with famed label ‘Astralwerks’ Deadmau5 might actually be in a position to challenge Mickey and become the most famous mouse in the world.
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